I'm Not Retarded, Just Unique

Special Education

“Gerard!” Gerard's younger brother Mikey called for him. His off speech pattern making him pronounce the 'erard' as a 'ewrawrd' when he whined.

“Yes, Mikey?” The elder brother asked him with a smile on his face, resting the book he was reading on the coffee table. He flipped his black hair out of his bright hazel eyes to be able to see the taller man.

“Can-can I eat pizza?” He asked him. His large brown eyes were shifting nervously behind his glasses.

“You want me to heat it up for you?” He nodded his short brown hair bobbing on his head.

“Mom told me that I can't touch the 'wave.” Mikey mumble, rubbing his arm. The 'wave' was the microwave. Mikey tended to shorten things when he was around people he was comfortable talking with. Their mother and Gerard were some of-well no, the only two people he did that with. Still, he did it more with Gerard knowing he wouldn't be judged with him. The brothers had a tight bond that many envied.

“Okay, how many pieces do you want?” Gerard got up and went into the kitchen and Mikey followed behind him.

“Two,” he spoke and Gerard nodded once more. He got a paper plate out of his cabinet and placed two pieces of the left over pizza on it. Gerard put it in the microwave for one minuet and turned back to his brother.

“Do you want a drink?” He asked and Mikey nodded.

“Um, milk?” Gerard smiled and went back into his refrigerator to get his drink. Gerard poured his brother a glass of milk as the microwave went off. He quickly set his brother up at the small table he had in his apartment and sat Mikey down.

He placed his plate right in front of him, his glass was right in front of the plate and his napkin was to his right. Mikey had to eat like this. He had a mild case of Aspergers Syndrome. He could, most of the time pass as a normal kid with a slight case of mental retardation. Then, there were the days were he would just be too much to handle. He would scream and attack anything in his path. Mikey rarely had those days. He had little tantrums when his table wasn't set right. He would get up and stand by the table, staring at his table set up and sometimes stomp his foot childishly.

Gerard never complained about his brother. He loved Mikey with all of his heart. He did everything he could to help Mikey out. He knew Mikey wouldn't be able to handle the world and would always require someone to watch over him. That's were Gerard and his mother came him. Donna Way would normally look after Mikey, but some days when her job was too much or she needed a break, Gerard would take Mikey off her hands. He never complained and he loved to spend time with him. Sure there were sacrifices like not going to his dream collage, but it was worth it.

He would never be able to mange going to SVA and take care of Mikey. Oh no, he just took classes online. He would most likely end up being some lame art teacher who never got to be what he really wanted. And Gerard was okay with that.

When Mikey was done with his meal, he threw his plate away and placed his cup in the sink. He trotted back over to the couch were Gerard had returned to his previous position. Once again, the brother set down his book and stared at his younger brother. Mikey just plopped down next to Gerard and snuggled into his side.

“When can I go back to mom?” He asked and Gerard shrugged.

“In a day or so. She has to work late this week.”

“Why, she have to work hard?” Mikey's face was pressed into Gerard's neck. His soft breath was tickling Gerard neck but he could bear it.

“So she can have money. Without money, she couldn't live.” Gerard told him but he didn't seem to like that answer.

“Do you work hard?” Again, he responded with a shrug.

“My job doesn't get as hard as mom's. Sometimes my boss is a big meanie.” Gerard made a face that made Mikey let out a giggle. “He's okay, though,” Mikey smiled as he closed his eyes.

“Maybe, mom should work with you.”

“Yea, maybe, Mikey. Hey, how about we get you to bed, huh? You got school tomorrow.” Gerard said and Mikey groaned.

“Noo,” he whined but Gerard just poked him in the side and it caused him to squirm away.

“Come on Mikey, you know it's good for you to got to school.”

“It's not the same.” Mikey frowned and Gerard sighed pulling him into a hug.

“It will be better. You will be in classes you can understand. There will be no more bullies, no more Trevor or Mitchel.” Mikey whimpered at the names. Gerard rubbed his back to make him more comfortable. “Do you want me to go with you? The school said I could if you would be more comfortable with that.”

“You can? Can you?” Mikey asked his brother. His eyes were wide and filled with hope. I smiled and kissed his forehead.

“Of course I will and can, Mikey. You ready to go to bed now?” He nodded and I ruffled his hair. The two of them went upstairs. Mikey brushed his teeth and struggled to get out of his clothes and into his pajamas. Gerard helped his brother through both issues and then tucked him into bed. Gerard placed a loving kiss on his brothers forehead before he was about to leave. Mikey reached out and grabbed his arm looking up at his brother through the covers.

“Sing to me?” Mikey asked and Gerard nodded.

“Okay, what do you want me to sing?” Mikey yawned and thought over it.

“Um-can you sing Stairway?” Mikey asked and Gerard laughed a bit but nodded. Stairway to Heaven was Mikey's favorite song as a kid. Ever since their dad had turned on the radio and it was playing, he adored it. Gerard stilled remembered how his brother had his face pressed up against the stereo of the car his eyes wide as he listened to it.

“You all settled in?” Gerard asked Mikey. The boy squirmed around a bit before nodding grinning up at his brother before another yawn took over.

“There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stars are all close
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven.”

Gerard stopped singing for his brother when he heard a soft snore come from him. He slowly left the room. Not having to really worry about tripping over anything. Gerard made sure never to touch any of Mikey's things while he wasn't at his apartment. Mikey liked everything neat and orderly. It drove him insane every time he would enter Gerard's apartment and find one- just one- paintbrush out of place.

Shaking his head a bit, Gerard closed the door until there was just a small crack in it. Just how Mikey liked the door to be. Gerard did one last sweep around his house, turning off the lights and insuring that all the windows and doors were locked. With a tired sigh, he went into his bedroom and got ready for bed. He climbed in stared out his open window.

During the day, Gerard would pretend that his dream college was just down the road, but it wasn't. A small community college was in plain sight. He thought about moving into a different apartment, due to the fact that it seemed like God was taunting him. As if the big cheese was saying, 'Oh look, a conveniently placed college, most likely containing some form of artistic art classes. What a quintessence!'.

Fucking God...

Gerard would never tell anyone how he really felt though. Mikey already blamed himself when he went into his upset moments. Their mother also knew how badly it had upset Gerard when he figured out that he couldn't go. Gerard has his college picked out since he was eight. He would tell everyone and anyone that, 'I am going to the School of Visual Arts! I'm going to be an artist!' After he turned twelve though, he knew something was wrong. With Mikey getting more into his illness, he had to take care of him more often. The feeling just grew until Gerard found out on his own how he needed to take care of Mikey.

That day was much like the day a child would find their parents putting the presents under the Christmas tree. Only instead of it being so innocent, it was more like a parents screaming, 'SANTA ISN'T REAL!!!!' But, Gerard had no one to blame but himself. It was his choice really. He could be in the art college he wanted so badly to be in. But if he was in it, his family's life would be horrible.

His mother would be under so much stress, Mikey would be unhappy, and their father would have to get involved. Mikey was very uncomfortable when Donald Way was around. The divorce was hard on him. Gerard saw it coming, and the two didn't fight about it either. They both had just grown apart. Don still came over to visit the boys and offered numerous times to take Mikey off of their hands for an hour or two. Mikey would always scream or go into a violent episode if he was in the same room as his father alone.

Mikey just didn't understand the concept of the divorce. Gerard's mother and him both told him what would happen. Dad would be living somewhere else and he wouldn't see him as often. Mikey thought that he had abandoned them. Even though Donald visited three or two times a week, Mikey still felt very off about it. That's at least what he's been telling his psychiatrist. He told us Mikey claimed to say, 'He's only there to take my love away too'.

The boy would learn one day. Even with him suffering from AS, he was so bright. Mikey was excelling beyond believe in his special ed classes. Never enough to have him be put into his normal grade level, though. Just enough to make him seem smart and show to the world that he had a fighting chance of getting better. This is all Mikey wanted. The boy would work so hard to try to make Gerard and his mother happy. Sometimes (most of the time) it didn't work out quite as planned. It usually ended up with Mikey getting too confused and begin to cry. Maybe, he would try to calm himself before locking himself in the bathroom.

That was just Mikey though, that's his thing. We just do all we can to keep him happy and calm. As long as he doesn't break extremely expensive things, he's fine.

Gerard was snapped back to reality when he heard a light tap on his door. He looked up to see Mikey there. He had his arms wrapped tightly around a small blanket, his favorite blanket. He looked much like a small child only instead of being small Mikey was extremely tall.

“Can I sleep with you?” He asked, his eyes were tired and his voice was soft. Gerard pulled the covers back and Mikey first closed the curtains and fixed the door before crawling in. The elder brother turned off the small bedside lamp before allowing his brother to snuggle into his side. Gerard ran his hand through Mikey's hair, humming the song he was singing moments ago until it lulled both him and Mikey into a deep sleep.